Europe 'in battle mood' over Trump's steel threat

President Trump, just back from his first G20 summit, is touting his trip to the gathering of world leaders as a "great success for the U.S".

In fact, of the top 10 foreign steel suppliers, of which Canada is the largest, six are tied to the United States through NATO, NAFTA or bilateral defense treaties; two others, Taiwan and Brazil, are old US friends.

Trump's looming decision on punitive steel tariffs hangs in the air as Group of 20 leaders meet in Hamburg, Germany with trade among the most divisive issues. On climate change, the USA was again isolated, with all 19 other members agreeing that the Paris agreement on cutting emissions was "irreversible".

"The G20 countries that had hit USA interests more often before President Trump was elected are the very G20 countries that have cut back on protectionism the most in 2017", said Simon Evenett, professor of economics at Switzerland's St. Gallen University and one of the authors of the Global Trade Alert.

The EU is the second largest producer of steel in the world after China.

Europe 'in battle mood' over Trump's steel threat

The White House administration has said it might slap large tariffs on steel shipments from other nations, claiming they are a risk to the national security of the U.S. That is why steel-consuming companies in the United States, and many of his own more prudent advisers, are urging Trump not to act as if the US national interest were equivalent to the narrow interests of the protection-craving steel industry. His point was that it doesn't make sense to talk about bilateral trade deficits in a multilateral world, the official said. They are hoping to galvanize other countries at the G-20 to work together to confront China over its government support for the domestic steel industry, with the idea that joint pressure could be more effective and remove the possibility that the United States has to move alone.

USA allies complain that the result of Trump's national security probes could harm their domestic industries both by imposing direct tariffs and by diverting the overcapacity of global steel and aluminum products into their markets.

European countries would prefer a multilateral solution on steel, he said.

During his four-day trip, Trump would travel to Poland and then to Germany to attend the G-20 Summit which among others is being attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to the U.S. International Trade Administration, Canada supplies 20 percent of America's overall steel imports, followed by Brazil, which supplies 13 percent. The G-20 will "continue to fight protectionism including all unfair trade practices and recognize the rule of legitimate trade defense instruments in this regard".

This move now is not surprising that Trump made free trade as the central topic of his campaign after he finished criticizing China, Japan and Mexico.

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